BREIN isn't known for being subtle. They want us to pay them money because we have a copier in our store and it is possible we copy copyrighted material with it.

I've also heard of (uknown) bands being told to either pay up or remove their own YouTube videos from their website.

Also, we have to pay extra for recordable media (CD's, DVD's, HDD's, MP3 players) because they assume you will use it for illegal copying. So it's very double that you have to pay up because you might copy copyrighted material illegally and when you get caught they will take you to court.

In the Netherlands, there is no "illegal copying" if you are not spreading the material. You are allowed to copy material; that is why the taxes on recordable media is there. It allows me to create FLACs for my media-PC, MP3's for my MP3-player, and copy the CD to use in my car. I wouldn't want to have to buy all media several times.

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And where does all the money go? Nobody knows, BREIN is one of the most untransparent companies in the Netherlands. Over the last couple of years some big artists have spoken out that all the money BREIN collects for them (as BREIN tells everyone they are doing) as compensation for loss because of illegal copying/downloading/etc they hardly get any of that money.

This is indeed a big problem with organizations such as BREIN. They are telling everybody that they're doing "good things", and collecting the money for the creators of the content, but the creators say they never see a penny. Nobody knows where the money goes.

BREIN functions like a charity. They DON'T want piracy to stop, just as charities don't REALLY want their problem solved for which the charity organization was created. BREIN is doing enough to look like as if they are making a difference. The reason is simple: If you solve ALL piracy and ALL problems for which there are charities, then all of those organizations become redundant... and quite a lot of CEO's and other highly paid people will be out of work.

After The Pirate Bay was blocked in The Netherlands, BREIN proclaimed to have won "The War Against Piracy". Oh? Eh.... didn't see all those... like... 2.845 proxies? Or the 5.234.489 other Torrent sites? Or... uhm.... the 10.578.247 non-Torrent possibilities?

If people want to pirate, they will pirate, one way or another. As I've often said: the only way to solve it is to follow GOG.com's game example. A lot of choice, a low price, easy to get (download), complete (with expansions, updates, soundtracks, art), no hassle, and after you've paid, the provider of the content stays out of your hair forever, as there's no DRM.